Martin told him, "Go and rest tonight.
And I'm sure The Crocodile and the Hun
everything will look different in the morning."
The czar agreed and went to his room, after ordering his
servants to bring Martin his best vodka and to put the finest silk
sheets on his bed. That night, while everyone was sleeping,
Martin went out into the palace gardens and used the magic ring
to bring everything back. The next morning, when the czar went
outside, he saw with great happiness the palace, the bridge, and
the great church.
Martin and the czarevna lived as man and wife again, and after
some time the czarevna realized what a good man Martin really
was. She began to love him and they then lived together in
happiness. Martin never removed the ring from his finger, and his
friends Jourka the dog and Vaska the cat were always by his side.
14
A hunter went out into the countryside, far from his village,
looking for food. After many hours he was sitting by his fire,
eating the meat of the animal he had killed, when he noticed two
eyes watching him from the bushes.
The hunter picked up his knife, stood, and asked, "Who are
you?"
A wildcat then appeared. "I am Boaji," the cat said. "I can see
that your skill has brought you a good day's kill. I'm afraid I
haven't had such good luck and I'm very hungry. Could you
share your meat with me? If you do, I'll return your kindness in
the future."
The hunter shared his meat with Boaji. Boaji ate well and
rested for some time by the fire. He then got up, stretched his
long, thin body, repeated his promise to the hunter, and walked
away into the bushes.
The next day the hunter went out again. He came to a place
where the wild grass grew very tall. It was difficult to see where
he was going. As he was pushing through the grass, he found a
crocodile.
"What are you doing here?" the hunter asked the crocodile.
"You should be in the water."
The crocodile told the hunter his story. The night before, he
had gone hunting. He had traveled too far from the river and
now he couldn't find his way back. He begged the hunter to help
him.
"Please show me the way back to the river. If you do this, I'll
bring you five loads of fish."
The hunter was happy to help. He tied a rope around the
crocodile's foot and led him to the Niger River.
15
 At the water's edge the crocodile thanked him. "I'm very
grateful for your kindness. Now, if you untie the rope, I'll go into
the river and bring you back five loads of fish as I promised."
The hunter waited high up on the riverbank while the
crocodile dived into the dark water.
After a few moments the crocodile rose up out of the water
with an enormous fish in his mouth. He swam quickly to the
water's edge, came out of the river, moved slowly up the
riverbank, and laid the fish in front of the hunter. He then moved
slowly back down the riverbank and slid silently into the water.
The hunter inspected the fish and thought, "This will make a
fine meal."
Soon the crocodile brought out a second load of fish. These
fish were smaller but equally fine-looking. He laid this load lower
down the riverbank. The hunter came down and carried the load
higher, laying it down next to the big fish.
The crocodile then returned with a third enormous load of
fish saying, "Oh dear, this is heavy." This time he left the load at
the water's edge. The hunter came down, took hold of the load,
and pulled it further up the riverbank.
The crocodile appeared again with a fourth load, saying, "I'm
beginning to feel quite tired, but aren't these beauties?" He then
laid the load in the shallow water near the riverbank. The hunter
came down, picked the fish up out of the water, and carried them
high up the riverbank to where the first three loads were.
Finally, after some time, the crocodile returned with the fifth
load of fish, which he laid at the edge of the deep water. He
called to the hunter, "I'm afraid I have no more energy. I just
can't bring these any further. I hope you don't mind."
The hunter came down from the riverbank, walked through
the shallow water, and came to the edge of the deep water. He
was bending down to pick up the fish when the crocodile
suddenly jumped out of the river, closed his enormous jaws
around the hunter's foot, and dragged him under the water.
16
The crocodile raced through the water to his brother
crocodiles, who were lying on a small island in the middle of the
river. He called to his friends that he had caught a hunter for
their dinner and invited them all to come and enjoy the meal.
Crocodiles suddenly appeared from every side and crowded
round the hunter, moving their heads and tails from side to side
and making hungry noises.
"Wait!" shouted the hunter. "I helped your friend! He lost his
way and I helped him! And now he's going to eat me! I ask you,
is this fair?"
The crocodiles replied, "Let's see if it's fair. You must get four
opinions on this question and then we'll decide."
Just then an Asubi, a colored mat, floated down the river. It
was old and torn.
The hunter shouted to the Asubi, "Asubi! Please help me!"
"What's wrong?" the mat shouted back.
The hunter told the Asubi what had happened and then asked,
"Do you think this is fair?"
The mat replied, "You are a man. I know what men are like.
When a mat is new and can be used for many things, they respect
it and care for it. They keep it clean and put it away carefully
when they have finished using it. But when a mat is old, they
forget that it used to be their friend. They throw it away. They
throw it into the river. You ask me if life is fair. Life is not fair. You
will be fortunate if the crocodile treats you as well as men have
treated me!"
The mat floated away down the river.
The crocodile turned to the hunter and asked, "Did you hear
that? Did you hear what the Asubi said?"
Then an old, torn piece of cloth came floating down the river.
The hunter cried,"Cloth! Please help me!"
"What's wrong?" the piece of cloth shouted back.
The hunter told the piece of cloth what had happened and
then asked, "Do you think this is fair?"
17
 The piece of cloth replied, "You are a man. I know what men
are like. While a cloth is young, bright, and colorful, they wrap it
around their bodies. They believe that the beauty they see in the
mirror is their own and not the cloth's. They say,'Look at me. See
how beautiful I am.' But it is the cloth that is beautiful, not them.
And the people know this, although they will not admit it,
because they fold the cloth up carefully to keep it beautiful when
they are not using it. But as soon as the cloth is old, they forget
how it used to make them beautiful. They throw it in the river.
You ask me if life is fair. Life is not fair. You will be fortunate if
the crocodile treats you as well as men have treated me!"
The piece of cloth then floated away down the river.
The crocodile asked, "Did you hear? Did you hear what the
cloth said? What do you think now?"
A horse came down to the riverbank to drink. The horse was
old and thin. Her owners had forced her to leave their farm
because she was too old to work.
The hunter cried, "Horse, please help me!"
"What is the problem?" the horse shouted back.
The hunter told the horse what had happened and then asked,
"Tell me. Do you think this is fair?"
The horse replied, "You are a man. I know what men are like.
When a horse is young, they look after her well. She has a warm
home. The boys brush her and give her the best grass. She is
given as much food as she can eat. But when the horse is old and
cannot work or have babies, when she is weak and sick, they take
her out into the countryside and say, 'Look after yourself now.'
You ask me if life is fair. Life is not fair. Look at me! You will be
fortunate if the crocodile treats you as well as men have treated
me!"
The horse then walked slowly away.
The crocodile said to the hunter, "You heard what the old
horse said, didn't you?You've had three opinions now."
18
Then a wildcat came down to the riverbank, looking for fish.
It was Boaji.
The hunter cried, "Boaji, please help me!"
"What's wrong?" asked Boaji.
The hunter told Boaji what had happened and asked him if
this was fair. Boaji thought for a moment and replied, "That is
difficult to judge. First, I must know all the facts. I want to hear
the crocodile's side of the story too. But if I do this, the crocodile
must accept my final decision.
"Of course," the crocodile replied.
Boaji asked the crocodile, "How did the hunter bring you
here?"
"He tied a rope around my foot and dragged me here,"
answered the crocodile.
Boaji asked, "Did it hurt?"
The hunter interrupted, "That's not true! He's lying! I didn't
drag him!"
Boaji stopped the hunter. "I cannot judge that until I have
seen it. Come here and show me exactly what you did."
So the crocodile and the hunter came out of the river and
onto the shore. Boaji told the hunter to tie the rope around the
crocodile's foot exactly as he had done before. The hunter did
this.
Boaji then asked the crocodile, "Is this what it was like?"
"Oh yes," answered the crocodile. "This is what it was like.
And soon it began to hurt."
Boaji said, "I can't decide that yet. The hunter is going to have
to lead you back again so I can examine this accurately. Do as I
say and I will follow you."
The hunter picked up the rope and led the crocodile back
into the tall grass, while Boaji followed. They walked for some
time in the hot sun until eventually they came to the place where
the hunter had met the crocodile.
19
 "This is the place," said the hunter.
Boaji asked the crocodile, "Was it here?"
"Yes, it was here. And from here the hunter dragged me
behind him to the river."
Boaji asked, "And you were not satisfied?"
The crocodile answered, "No, I wasn't."
Boaji told the crocodile, "Good. You punished the hunter for
hurting you by dragging him into the river. So now this
argument is finished. To avoid more quarrels of this kind, the
hunter must untie the rope and leave you here in the tall grass.
This is my decision."
"What!" shouted the crocodile angrily. He brought his tail
down hard against the earth and spun around to face Boaji and
the hunter. "I'll never find my way back to the river!"
The hunter looked at Boaji and smiled. They then left the
crocodile there screaming in anger. The hunter thanked Boaji as
they walked away.
The time comes when everyone is treated as he has treated
others.
20
Breaking the Chain
Juanantes Dios Rodrigues was a poor farmer. He was a good
man, a good husband. He worked hard and lived a simple life.
One night Juanantes took a bottle of whiskey to the field behind
his house. He didn't usually drink alcohol. He hated the taste,
although people said it was better than most other pleasures in life.
Some people had even found the "good light" after drinking
alcohol. A person who experienced the "good light" was able to
leave this earth and, for a short time, stay between two worlds, in a
place where death couldn't touch them. This light meant good
health, long life, happiness, good business. Everyone searched for
this light. But Juanantes didn't drink—until that night.
There was no reason for his drinking—nothing to celebrate,
no anger to drown, or sadness to forget. But he couldn't fight his
desire on that night. When he had finished the bottle, he heard a
voice. The voice commanded him to go to the top of a mountain
called the Hill of Sand on the first Tuesday of the ninth month, at
midnight. There he would find a large fire in the forest. He
would see a bag by the fire. He had to approach the fire and pick
up the bag before the fire burned it. Inside the bag there would
be treasure and something else, a mandate. He had to do exactly
what the mandate ordered him to do.
On the first Tuesday of the ninth month his wife, Cardenala,
went with him to the Hill of Sand. They left at midnight, as the
voice had instructed, and walked through the forest. They were
afraid but excited at the same time. The noises of the night were
all around them. Eyes shone in the dark, watching them.
Juanantes had told Cardenala about the voice during a
moment of weakness, as he lay there recovering from his night of
drinking. He knew now, as she pushed him forward in the
darkness, that it had been a mistake to tell Cardenala. Since he
had told her about the voice, he had had no peace. He couldn't
21